Wikipedia defines history as the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. It came from the Greek word ‘historia’ – which means ‘inquiry, knowledge acquired by investigation’.
Did you know? There are many who claim Herodotus, a fifth century BC Greek historian, as the “father of history”.
This website utilizes pages from Wikipedia to extract historical events from 3761 BC up to the present. There are 105,062 records in the database that include events, births and deaths of popular individuals. The present day Gregorian calendar was adopted to show dates of interest.
Let us begin with today’s history. You may also enter a specific day using the form on the right sidebar.
What are the important events that happened on May 17? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.
May 17: Facts & Myths About This Day
May 17 is the 138th day of the year 2012 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 228 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Thursday.
Under the Julian calendar, this day is May 4, 2012 – a Thursday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?
When this day started, 371,448 hours has elapsed since midnight of January 1, 1970 – the Unix epoch.
Strange as it may, if we name this day after a polygon then it will be called ‘hectatriacontaoctagon’ day.
Taurus is the zodiac sign of a person born on this day. Emerald is the modern birthstone for this month. Sapphire is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.
According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 269 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year.
The ancient Maya civilization believes that the end of the world will happen on December 21, 2012. There are 218 days left before this fabled cataclysmic event. (OMG! More reason to get a Samsung Galaxy Note N7000 today!)
May 17 Historical Events
- 1521 –Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, is executed for treason.
- 1775 –American Revolutionary War: the Continental Congress bans trade with Quebec.
- 1809 –Napoleon I of France orders the annexation of the Papal States to the French Empire.
- 1900 –Second Boer War: British troops relieve Mafeking.
- 1987 –An Iraqi Dassault Mirage F1 fighter jet fires two missiles into the U.S. Navy warship USS Stark, killing 37 and injuring 21 of her crew.
Who were born on May 17?
- 1941 –David Cope, American composer and author
- 1945 –Tony Roche, Australian tennis player
- 1949 –Bill Bruford, English drummer (Yes, King Crimson)
- 1950 –Janez Drnovšek, Slovenian politician (d. 2008)
- 1958 –Paul Di'Anno, English singer (Iron Maiden)
Who died on May 17?
- 1521 –Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, English politician (b. 1478)
- 1875 –John C. Breckinridge, 14th Vice President of the United States (b. 1821)
- 1936 –Panagis Tsaldaris, twice Greek prime minister (b. 1868)
- 2006 –Cy Feuer, American playwright (b. 1911)
- 2007 –Lloyd Alexander, American author (b. 1924)
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